Post navigation

Trying to save the Azores bullfinch

Azores Bullfinch Pyrrhula murina has become the latest Critically Endangered species to find a Champion through the BirdLife Preventing Extinctions Programme. Birdwatch magazine has stepped forward to provide vital funds for the work of the Species Guardian, SPEA (BirdLife in Portugal).

Much work has already been done for this species with significant funding to SPEA through the EU Life Fund, but this is coming to an end. With so much already achieved Birdwatch’s decision has provided a timely intervention for conservation work to help Azores Bullfinch. …

Azores Bullfinch, known locally as Priolo, is confined to eastern São Miguel in the Azores, Portugal. It has suffered through widespread loss of native forest and invasion by exotic vegetation, which has largely overrun the remaining patches of natural vegetation within the species’s breeding range. These funds will enable the continuation of crucial habitat restoration work to increase the core range of this species. The exact number of bullfinches is unclear. In the 1990s the population was estimated at 200-300 individuals. However, surveys since 2002 have indicated a rise to around 340 individuals, a sign that habitat restoration is already having an effect. …

If you would like to help Birdwatch support Azores Bullfinch visit their online donation site here.